Boy 'lucky to be alive'

STOCKTON - The 9-year-old boy who was hit by a car in central Stockton on Wednesday morning suffered severe injuries but is expected to survive, his mother said.

Jason Anderson

STOCKTON - The 9-year-old boy who was hit by a car in central Stockton on Wednesday morning suffered severe injuries but is expected to survive, his mother said.

Jasmine Mitchell said her son, Elijah Mitchell, remains hospitalized at UC Davis Medical Center in Sacramento with numerous injuries, including a fractured pelvis and second-degree burns due to road rash on his back and chest. Police initially said it appeared the boy was not using the crosswalk when he was struck, but his mother said she has seen video showing that he did use the crosswalk.

"I saw the video," she said. "I watched up until I knew he was going to get hit, and I can tell you he was in the crosswalk."

Elijah Mitchell was thrown approximately 25 feet upon impact, but miraculously, his mother said, the boy's head and neck were uninjured.

"The doctor said Elijah is a miracle boy," Jasmine Mitchell said. "He was hit so hard and his injuries are so extensive, but the only place he was not injured was the neck and the head. He is lucky to be alive. I believe that God spared my child."

Mitchell said her son is facing a long, difficult recovery and will have to undergo physical therapy. He may not be able to return to school this year, she said.

The boy doesn't remember what happened and hasn't seemed like himself since the accident, said his mother, who has been by his bedside since Wednesday.

"Elijah is a bright, silly boy," she said. "He is my sunshine. He's always happy. He never complains. To me, he's just a perfect kid, but now he's not smiling. He doesn't want to talk. He's very sad. He doesn't know why he's there, but he knows he's hurt terribly. He knows something really bad happened."

Mitchell said her son is an honor roll student who often walks to Panaderia La Yolanda on North California Street to buy 25- and 50-cent pastries. On Wednesday, the boy was going to miss breakfast at school because he was waiting for a shirt to dry, so he asked his mother if he could purchase pastries before going to school.

The boy returned to the store a second time after forgetting to bring money the first time. As he was leaving, he was hit by a white Honda sport utility vehicle driven by an unidentified woman who immediately pulled over and called 911, witnesses said. The woman cooperated with the police investigation and was released.

Mitchell said a business owner in the area showed her surveillance video showing that her son pressed the button for the flashing crosswalk system and waited for the yellow lights to flash. Two cars stopped to allow the boy to cross, Mitchell said, but the Honda did not.

"The first car stopped and the second car stopped," Mitchell said. "She did not stop, and, boom, his life is now forever changed."

The accident has saddened the boy's five siblings and the family dog, which looks for Elijah every time the door opens, Mitchell said. The boy's brothers and sisters are staying with relatives so his parents can be with him at the hospital, she said.

"This is something that just rocked our family and our entire world," Mitchell said. "It's terrible. It's a living nightmare, and I feel that if my son has to pay such a heavy price for this woman's carelessness, then it needs to be known that he was being responsible and doing all the right things."

Officer Joe Silva, a spokesman for the Stockton Police Department, said investigators will officially determine whether the boy was using the crosswalk when they complete their investigation in the coming days.